Needs Analysis in English for Academic Purposes: The Case of Teaching Assistants at the University of Khartoum

Main Article Content

Abuelgasim Sabah Elsaid Mohammed
Hala Salih Mohammed Nur

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the English language needs of teaching assistants at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. The study focused on identifying the teaching assistants’ purposes for learning English, and discovering the most important skills, language areas, and academic sub-skills they needed. The study also attempted to determine the teaching assistants’ proficiency in the English language. To this end a quantitative approach was adopted. Data were collected through a questionnaire and a test. The results revealed that the teaching assistants needed English for their social life and academic purposes: to communicate with the outside world and to teach their students. The skills regarded as most important were writing and speaking. Finally, the level of proficiency of the participants in the English language was below the average in all the skills.

Article Details

How to Cite
Elsaid Mohammed, A. S., & Nur, H. S. M. (2018). Needs Analysis in English for Academic Purposes: The Case of Teaching Assistants at the University of Khartoum. HOW, 25(2), 49–68. https://doi.org/10.19183/how.25.2.409
Section
Research Reports
Author Biographies

Abuelgasim Sabah Elsaid Mohammed, Prince Sattam University/Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abuelgasim Sabah Elsaid Mohammed is an assistant professor at the University of Khartoum. Currently he is on leave and works at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His interests are ESP, EAP, EFL, academic writing, materials design, and evaluation.

Hala Salih Mohammed Nur, University of Khartoum

Hala Salih Mohammed Nur is an associate professor at the University of Khartoum. She is the founding director of the English Language Institute, the first training institute of its kind in Sudan. Here interests are teacher training, CALL, and teaching English to young learners.

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